Definition of villein in English:

noun

The court customary was the court for unfree tenants or villeins and was presided over by the lord's steward or bailiff.

At the lowest end of the social scale this was self-evidently true of slaves, but it was also true of many other categories of tenant - the English villein, the Scottish neif, the Welsh taeog, and the Irish betagh.

Typically, villeins were required to work on their lord's lands at harvest time and to carry his produce to the market.